Assassin's Creed 2

The water whispers through the canals at night, amplifying the voices of both the gentry and the less fortunate as they bustle through the streets of Venice. As Ezio Auditore, a young lord from Florence caught up in the vicious interfamily battles of the era, you drift unnoticed among them, master of disguise and predator all at once. Considering the inexhaustible supply of ripe gameplay moments like that, we have to admit that selecting 15th-century Italy as the setting for Assassin’s Creed 2 was pure genius.

But Assassin’s Creed 2 has a lot to live up to. Don’t gank us for saying this, but the first game was just a heartbreaking step or two away from brilliance. Can the sequel take it all the way there? After checking out both the team’s ambitious design goals and some early gameplay in action, we’re inclined to think so.

One of Ubisoft’s main focuses is a meatier story. “Ezio is a man with a lot of charisma and presence. He’s warmer and more of a free soul [than] the colder warrior that Altair was in the first game,” explains producer Sebastien Puel. “Altair always answered to orders given by his master, even if he sometimes questioned them. Ezio sets his own objectives and mostly answers only to his own will, which is at first driven by a desire for vengeance.”

Of course, Ezio’s tale is framed by Desmond’s exploration of his DNA memories (see sidebar, page 23) in the present. As Desmond sifts through Ezio’s pursuit of retribution against the ruling families of Italy who betrayed him, Desmond “uncovers a much bigger plot: a conspiracy rooted in Assassin’s Creed that still impacts his world — our very world,” reveals Puel. And while we can’t spoil anything, let’s just say that it’ll all take much longer than you probably expect.

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